The nation’s largest retailer, Walmart, has scouted sites for two possible stores in Pamlico County — near Oriental and in Grantsboro.

The company has not purchased any land in Pamlico County and has not made official application for any permits.

A high-ranking Walmart spokesman said Friday that while the Pamlico County sites are under “consideration,” the company had no announcement of firm plans.

“It’s true that we would consider building in both communities. We are always looking for opportunities to build new stores and provide more convenient shopping for our customers,” said Walmart Director of Communication-East, William Wertz.

He told the Sun Journal from his home office in Massachusetts that Walmart has opened 16 new stores in North Carolina this year.

“Oriental and Grantsboro are certainly under consideration, but I have to tell you so are a lot of other communities throughout the state,” he said. “We are always in a planning mode, but nothing conclusive had been done in respect to Grantsboro or Oriental.”

The town of Oriental announced two weeks ago that an architectural firm had submitted a site map for a Walmart Express store, to be located just a few hundred feet outside the town limits on N.C. 55.

“We really haven’t made that decision at this point,” Wertz said. “Maybe the firm got ahead of the curve here.”

Walmart representatives have contacted the county building inspector’s office about both sites, but no plans have been submitted for review to receive permits.

A Pamlico County building inspections office spokesman said the builders would need state environmental and local sewer permits for consideration of the county permits for mechanical, plumbing, electrical, building and installations.

“We haven’t announced any plans for a store in either community,” Wertz said. “We are always looking for opportunities and certainly Oriental and Grantsboro are communities we would consider for new stores.”

Both stores would receive sewer from Bay River Metro Sewer District. A spokesman for Bay River said Friday that Walmart had inquired only about sewer allocation for the Grantsboro location, on farmland near the new State Employees Credit Union, now under construction on N.C. 55. But, Bay River has not received any site plans.

Spokesmen for the building inspector’s office and Bay River said they were told the Grantsboro store would be a 70,000-square-foot facility.

The Oriental town announcement sparked immediate protests from a group that began with about 40 people meeting on Aug. 25.

The group has expressed fears that the 12,000-square-foot express store will negatively affect local businesses, including groceries and a pharmacy in the village.

On Thursday, the protest group launched a website: stopwalmart.org

It includes an online petition protesting the store. The petition can be downloaded and dropped off at the Village Food Emporium. There are also petitions at Town N Country, Village Hardware and Denton’s Pharmacy. An email from organizers said petitions would be available at today’s Oriental Farmers Market.

Page 2 of 2 - The petition statement reads:

“We, the undersigned, do not want a Walmart store to be built in or near Oriental. We value our small, independent, locally owned businesses because they contribute so much to Oriental and its community spirit. We sign this petition out of concern for those businesses if Walmart opens in or near Oriental. We sign this petition out of concern for Oriental.”

On Tuesday night, the protest group offers a free 7:30 p.m. showing of the 2005 documentary, “Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price,” which is critical of Walmart’s effects on small town businesses.

“We are concerning that if Walmart comes to town our local grocery, hardware, pharmacy and gas stations will be run out of town,” said protest leader Nelda Coats.

The Oriental store would be on town water and receive police protection, but it would not provide any tax revenues. Property and point of sales taxes would go to Pamlico County.

The Grantsboro store would be subject to county and town taxes.

While there are no other chain stores in Oriental except for a Dollar General, Grantsboro has a Dollar General, Piggly Wiggly and Food Lion.

Charlie Hall can be reached at 252-635-5667 or Charlie.hall@newbernsj.com.